Inuyasha and the Tooth Fairy
by The Literary Dragon
Summary: Inu lost a tooth in battle. Why don't you leave it for the Tooth Fairy? Stupid fox! There's no such thing as a Tooth Fairy! Or is there?


This is something just for giggles. Enjoy!  
  
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Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha  
  
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INUYASHA AND THE TOOTH FAIRY  
  
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"Watch out, Inuyasha!"  
  
"YEOOOOWWWW!!!"  
  
A pain-filled scream rocked the forest. Fortunately, after a long and noisy battle, whatever wildlife was left had long since been frightened into silence. Inuyasha knelt by the twitching remains of the giant snake demon, both hands covering his mouth.  
  
"I told you to be careful, Inuyasha," Sango told him calmly, searching through bits of flesh for the shard that Kagome had sensed. "Snake demons can be dangerous even after the head has been cut off." Any reply that Inuyasha made was muffled by the hands still over his mouth.  
  
"Yeah!" Shippou hopped onto Inuyasha's shoulder. "Smacked right into a tree. That must have hurt." A moment later, Shippou went over to sit next to Kirara, nursing the bump on his head.  
  
"Let me see." Kagome knelt next to the injured dog demon, putting her first aid kit on the ground. Grudgingly, Inuyasha removed his hands. She made a quick examination, gained through many experiences of dealing with a half-demon who seemed to sport new injuries every week.  
  
"Not too bad." Kagome used a clean cloth to wipe away the worst of the blood. "Looks like the demon knocked a tooth loose." She grabbed the smooth fang and yanked. Inuyasha yelped. "But that should grow back in a few hours." She held it up.  
  
Inuyasha shot to his feet, towering over Kagome. "What'd you do that for, bitch? You didn't have to pull it out!"  
  
Kagome ground her teeth together, in a silent bid to keep her temper.  
  
"Do you enjoy causing me pain?" Inuyasha continued to yell. "If you hadn't been so slow in pointing out the shard, then I wouldn't have been hit by that damn snake's tail!"  
  
Kagome stood up abruptly. Fire snapped in her eyes. "I had to pull it out! It was loose! You could have swallowed it! Choked to death on your own tooth!" She waved the fang around, wrapped in a small clean cloth.  
  
Shippou bounded over, so used to their constant arguing that it didn't bother him anymore. "What are you going to do with it, Inuyasha? Are you going to leave it for the Tooth Fairy?"  
  
Inuyasha stopped mid-insult, a blank look coming into his eyes at the unfamiliar word. "The what?"  
  
"The Tooth Fairy." On being met with puzzled silence, Shippou proceeded to explain. "Kagome told me all about her when I lost my baby tooth." He bared his teeth, pointing to his brand new adult tooth. "She's a type of winged demon. People in Kagome's time call her a fairy. When a child loses a tooth, they put it under their pillow before going to sleep. The fairy comes in the middle of the night and exchanges your tooth for a treat."  
  
"I've never heard of a demon that leaves something in exchange for teeth," Sango remarked. She absently handed the jewel shard to Kagome, who took it with a murmur of thanks. She dropped it into her little glass jar, where it landed with a satisfying clink.  
  
"Indeed." Miroku settled onto the ground, adjusting his staff with a musical jingle. "And what did this 'Tooth Fairy' leave you, Shippou?"  
  
"A chocolate bar like the kind Kagome's always bringing me." Shippou stretched his arms as far as they would stretch. "It was this big, and it had nuts in it."  
  
Inuyasha snorted and snatched the cloth containing his fang from Kagome. "Nonsense is what I call it. Who would believe anything that stupid?" Demons don't walk around handing out chocolate for useless teeth."  
  
"It is true!" Shippou shouted. "Kagome told me so, and she doesn't lie!" He turned innocent blue eyes in the future girl's direction. "Right, Kagome?"  
  
Kagome shifted uneasily as all eyes focused on her. "That's right, Shippou." She started repacking her first aid kit to avoid looking at anyone. "Why don't we find someplace to spend the night? Preferably, one with a hot spring. I could use a good long soak after this fight."  
  
"What do you need a soak for? You weren't the one who got smashed into a tree by that stupid snake's tail!" Crossing his arms over his chest, Inuyasha managed to look annoyed and self-righteous at the same time. "And another thing; you shouldn't be filling the runt's head with stories from your era. Demon's have no interest--."  
  
"SIT!"  
  
Inuyasha crashed to the ground. "Ouch! I bit my tongue!"  
  
"Serves you right, jerk!" Inuyasha picked his head up in time to see Kagome disappearing into the woods on the other side of the clearing. Miroku gave him an unreadable look, before turning to follow Sango and Kirara. Shippou stuck out his tongue at the flattened hanyou and scampered up to sit on the monk's shoulder.  
  
Inuyasha peeled himself off the ground and stomped after them. He kicked a chunk of serpent out of his way and growled, wishing for something to shred to relieve his frustration. That stupid girl and her stupid stories! There was no such thing as a Tooth Fairy. His hand clenched around the cloth-wrapped fang. He stared at it for a moment before carefully tucking it out of sight.  
  
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Kagome sank into the hot water with a grateful sigh. Her face twisted into a frown of remembered annoyance. That stupid, arrogant, over- bearing jerk! Inuyasha had stormed into the chosen campsite moments after Kagome had deposited her backpack in an out of the way corner and started helping Shippou gather fallen branches for the campfire. He immediately jumped into a tree and asked. . . no, demanded to be told when dinner was ready.  
  
He scarfed his ramen and returned to his tree without even a thank you. Sango suggested that Kagome go soak; she and Miroku would clean up. Now, she sat in a pool of hot water. Little by little, she could feel the tension leaving her muscles.  
  
What was wrong with telling the fox kit a few harmless stories? He had so few chances to be a child. His father had been killed right before his eyes. And it seemed like every other week, some new demon was trying to kill them. The tale of the Tooth Fairy made him happy. Chocolate made him happy. Kagome didn't see any problems.  
  
She became aware that she was grinding her teeth. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to relax. Inuyasha could believe whatever he wanted, but she would slam him into the ground so many times that it would take him a month to recover if he did anything to destroy Shippou's belief in the Tooth Fairy. Feeling much better, Kagome settled down to enjoy the rest of her bath.  
  
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Kagome made her way back to the campsite. Dusk was turning the sky a deep blue; though under the trees it was already dark. The hot spring had felt so nice that she had stayed longer than she meant to. She could see the lumps around the fire that must be Sango and Miroku. Inuyasha was probably still sulking in his tree.  
  
She smiled and started to step into the clearing. A shadow passed between her and the fire. Kagome froze. Was it a demon? Where was Inuyasha? The figure stopped under a tree and turned slightly. She let out the breath she was holding when she caught sight of the two dog ears perched on top of his head.  
  
"I'll show that little runt," Kagome heard Inuyasha mutter. He bent down and placed something on the ground by the tree. "There is no such thing as a Tooth Fairy." With a last furtive look around, he leaped up to his nighttime perch. Kagome skirted the light from the campfire carefully, praying that Inuyasha wouldn't notice her. Her luck seemed to be holding. There was no sound from the dog demon and Kagome slipped into her sleeping bag with a sigh.  
  
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Much later, Inuyasha woke up with a jerk. His super-sensitive ears twitched as they heard someone skulking around under his tree. He threw his leg over the branch and dropped to the ground--right in front of Kagome. She jumped back with a surprised squeak and tried to hide something behind her back.  
  
"Don't do that, Inuyasha," she scolded, pressing her other hand against her chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack."  
  
Inuyasha regarded her suspiciously. "What are you doing?" he demanded.  
  
"N-nothing," Kagome stuttered. She backed away. His clawed hand shot out and grabbed her by the front of her blouse, effectively stopping her.  
  
"Bullshit, Kagome." Inuyasha's eyes narrowed and he tightened his grip, pulling her towards him. "You're hiding something."  
  
Kagome's eyes flashed dangerously at him. "Let go of me, you arrogant jerk! I am not hid--." The rest of her sentence cut off as Inuyasha pulled her hand from behind her back and pried her fist open.  
  
"Quit treating me like I'm stupid!" He extracted the object she was holding and held it up. The fang gleamed in the moonlight. His brows lowered and he glared at her. "Not hiding anything, are you? Then, what's this? And don't give me that crap about a Tooth Fairy! You were lying about the whole thing, weren't you? There is no such thing as a Tooth Fairy!"  
  
Kagome stiffened. Her eyes narrowed as she matched him glare for glare. "And what if I was?" She kept her voice low to avoid waking the others, but her tone shook with anger. "Shippou deserves a little happiness in his life! And I won't let you destroy that!"  
  
"Feh!" Inuyasha released her so abruptly that she staggered. "Whatever." He turned, preparing to jump into the branches, when a flash of white on the ground made him pause. Kneeling, he picked up the cloth. Something small and shiny fell out.  
  
"What's this?" he asked, picking it up. It seemed to be a silver wire that had been bent into a strange pattern. Experimentally, he pulled on one end. The wire straightened into a new shape. He snorted.  
  
"It's called a paper clip," Kagome retorted, snatching it away from him. She rebent it into the original shape and handed it back.  
  
"Don't I deserve chocolate like the runt?" he demanded. "All I get is a bit of useless, silver wire!"  
  
Kagome looked down, absently fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "I'm sort of out of chocolate." She lifted her chin to glare at him. "But I wouldn't be if someone would let me go home and stock up on supplies once in a while!"  
  
"Fine!" One of the lumps by the fire stirred fitfully. Inuyasha gritted his teeth and lowered his voice to a whisper. "But I want something good!"  
  
Massaging her temples with one hand, Kagome sighed. "What kind do you want, Inuyasha? A chocolate orange? Dark chocolate? Milk chocolate? Chocolate covered cherries? Chocolate kisses? Choc--?"  
  
"What was that last one?" Inuyasha interrupted.  
  
Kagome blinked. "Chocolate kisses?"  
  
"Yeah, I want one of those." Inuyasha smirked. "And I want something else now. Or I'll tell the runt that there isn't any Tooth Fairy."  
  
Kagome looked away, letting her eyes drift across the clearing. What could she give him? He obviously wasn't impressed with the paper clip. A fragment of thought drifted through her head. Well, why not? It was kind of his idea. And she had to admit to herself that she wanted to. Steeling herself, Kagome lifted her brown eyes to meet Inuyasha's golden ones.  
  
"Okay, you win." She lifted herself onto her tiptoes and placed her hands on his shoulders, preventing him from backing away. Before she could lose her nerve, she pressed her lips against his.  
  
Inuyasha froze. When he felt her begin to pull away he grasped her slim waist. His lips pressed against hers, returning the kiss. Eventually, they broke apart. With a small smile, and a slightly glazed look in her eyes, Kagome returned to her sleeping bag. Inuyasha stood where she left him, under the spreading branches of the tree. He lifted a hand to his mouth, tracing lips that still tingled.  
  
"I think I'll lose another tooth tomorrow night."  
  
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A/N: Lack of motivation, writers block, plain laziness. Call it what you want, but the next chapter of 'The Babysitter' is not coming together. So, I wrote a little one-shot to tide you over. Just a weird idea that popped into my head, but kind of cute. 'Till next time! 


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